Reefkeeping 101 -
The End of the Newbie Forum

Ending the Never Ending Questions

The powers that be have finally wised up and are shutting down the New to the Hobby Forum, as well as this column. I mean how much can the real reefers take? Day after day we get people that join Reef Central (RC) that can’t keep a pet rock alive much less than a reef tank.

Their countless questions such as, “Why do I need salt in the water, Can my Oscar be moved to the saltwater tank, Is live rock where you play loud music next to your fish tank, My bicycle is too small to hold my 220-gallon; do I use a motorcycle to drive it around during the month-long cycle and Is a 20-gallon large enough for a hammerhead shark?”; tax my mind. I have done my best to give the worst information I can find to the new reefkeeper so they will abandon the hobby. Yet, they keep on coming.

This influx makes buying a coral or fish an expensive proposition for the experienced reefkeeper. It drives prices up further when the Newbie loses his entire stock after listening to me, and buys new fish or corals. It has got to stop!

Therefore as of tomorrow we will close the Newbie Forum and this will be the last installment of this column. Now that we are approaching 250,000 members, we need to focus on are experienced membership. We have so many moderators on the Newbie Forum that could be put to better use.

New Rules

Effective immediately all new members wishing to register on RC will be required to take a test. With questions like, What is the scientific name of the Giant Squid, What is the molecular weight of fulvic acid and Who is Abu Muhammad Jabir ibn Aflah and why is he important in calculating lux output in a sphere? We will cull the newbies and leave this board for those that know something about reefing. Today, one would need to be a fool to let us continue as we have.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, please visit this thread in the New To The Hobby forum on Reef Central.